Renowned Japanese watch manufacturer CITIZEN recently unveiled a stunning installation called LIGHT is TIME at Milan Design Week. Displayed in the Triennale di Milano exhibition hall, the spectacular installation consists of 80,000 main plates (the structural bases of watches) suspended from 4,200 metal threads hooked to the ceiling. The result is a truly one-of-a-kind experience for viewers, who are enveloped in a cloud of refracting light, time frozen around them like thousands of golden rain drops.
The installation, which was designed by Tsuyoshi Tane (of DGT Architects) and CITIZEN’s in-house design team, also features a pocket watch from the 1920s as well as the latest CITIZEN watch model. Through this exhibition, CITIZEN celebrates its origins and promotes brand awareness. LIGHT is Time illustrates the concept “Time x Light x Future” that defines the company’s famed Eco-Drive technology, which uses electrical power converted from virtually any light source to power a watch in order to explore a new future.
According to Tane, humans have forgotten their relationship with the essence of light since the digitization of time. He says that this installation is “the manifestation of light’s return to time” and “our great challenge at 21st-century light.”
Photos by Takuji Shimmura, Kazuyuki Miyabe, CITIZEN
DGT Architects Website
CITIZEN Watch Website
via [Jeda Vu Art, Domus]